Level crossing gate



Oct. 20, 1931. R. DAERING LEVEL CROSSING GATE Filed Oct. 11, 1930 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 nvenfor Oct.- 20, 1931. R. DA ERING LEVEL CROSSING GATE Filed Oct. 11, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 nvenror Wfinesses Patented 20, 1931v RUDOLE' rename, I or neuron; ALBERTA, CANADA;

v LEVEL cRossINeGAr-E Application-fi1ed0ctober11,1930: Serial NOr4883Q862 My: invention relates. to improvements in. automatically operated level; crossing gates,,

farm andzothergates; and-the objects of-myinventlon g arev to eliminate the dangers aris-.

: ing from; careless and unobservantz pedes triansand vehicle drivers Wherehighways.

of; gateposts :1 andlAh Vertical :ra1ls 111. are,

cross railroads, and to provide; convenient:

m ans. .ofopening. and closing; any-gate automatically 10 I attain these objects by the mechanism i1:

lustratedI inthe accompanying drawings, in

which. Fig. lshows from the :railroad track. 7

Fig. 2 shows a plan view of gate With rallroadjtrackradded. i i

Fig. 3, shows a side elevation of. the; gate.

and-mechanism.

Fig.- 4 shows a side sectionofcontacttrlp-v 20. ping. device.

of-FigAa, j I 1 Fig 6 shows :aplanviewof Fig; 4'...

25 the gate.-

ratchet andgpawl.

Similar: numerals refer to similar parts,- v w the gate a: tOQthGdMPlIIIOD-I wheel 19 1s keyed;

which pinion, ismeshed with. a vertically dis: 0

throughout the several views; a

Referring. to the drawmgs:

of groovedpulleys 3 imounted on ahorizontal 3.5.

of a framework project-ingacross the front angle'braces 5' attached. to its insideorrear face which project: in 'sucha. manner. as to: form suspension points to carry the gate-by.

means ofcable connections 63betweenthe said angle braces 5 andithe said, pulleys 3 the ca-.. bles 6} being wound; around the, pulleys andanchored; theretoa- Flangedjrollers. 7" are 1 mounted on axlerods8,.thesaidrods being journaleolv in horizontally; slotted holes in the upper and lower. ends-of: the-vertical. an?

50 gle braces 5, each rod '8;carrying one offther I Fig, 5 shows an end: view; inpart. section Fig, 7. shows a: detailof-angle braces on- Fig, .8shows afdetail of the stop-disc with;

v 1. and'ilA represent. two -'vert cal ga;te.-posts supported onwhich; is a sliding gate 2,.the. said, gate beingsuspend'ed from .a pair orgmore shaft 4-.whichshaft-is journaled'on the said Y gate posts 1 and 1A. The gate2 is composedi attached to the-frontand rear facesof; the, I

posts land-1A., in the front to reduce the fries tion between the :gateframes 2;and.the.-posts;

and in. the rear. toact. as guidesfor: the i I groovedrollers 7... a 'frontgview of. the gate seen The. motive: power for raising theagate; is.

derivedfrom.ar spiral spring-.125 which; is;

mounted on-a shaft '13; the said-shaft? being journaled in bearings 14} and having a stop disc 15'loosely mountedtonfthe same vs,haf t,13..-

The spring 12;.hasitsrouter end. attached to; the support or fou11dat1on.16 and its inner,

15., and the rotation of. thesaidratchetl? is controlledby a spring operated, pawl 18 en gaging theteeth ofthesaid ratchet..17, the said'spring of thesaid pawl being rigidly .at-; tached to;thestop disc 515.

On {the extremeendofhe shaft ISL nearest posed springwinding rack 20. .attachedigto and.

work. 2., the said rack. being housed in a: vertical. casing 20A.v which; is sunk. through the foundation and into thergroundr. The-disc: 15 v. is. cam {shapedfon its lower semicircle as. show-n the radius of the disc; circle being reduced. until the camv formed terminates in a stop 21', approximately on thefhorizontal diameter of the .-disc when the: 'disc-isin itsnormal position, and: when. observed as in.

Figsl and 3. Astop-dog 22.is pivoted on.

the-foundation; 16; and engages against the said stopi21 holding. the;p.awl 1.8; in engagementwith: a tooth of the-ratchet. 17 against theaction of; the spring. 12: r A stop lever 23, forming a: right angledeprOj ection; from, the .pivotedastoprdogr22 :acts as a check for a. pin.

24attached at rightxangles;toT-the-lower face I otthe-disc 1:5. Theobjectyofythis:pinwisgto,

, adjacent gate post 1A. Another bevel-spur wheel 28, at the topof the shaft 27 is mitred' i of the said clutch are separated by means of prevent the disc from turning when the spring 12 is being wound up, and this pin is also the means of ensuring the return of the dog 22 into the cam-stop 21 at the proper time when it comes in contact with the upper slightly tapered surface of the stoplever 23 while the disc 15 is being turned by the spring'12 to raise the gate as described later. A bevel spur wheel 25 is mounted loosely. on the shaft 13 towards that end near the gate,

the said spur wheel being rigidly attached" to the hub of the disc 15. This spur wheel 25 is mitred with a similar bevel spur wheel 26 which is keyed to a vertically disposed shaft- 27 journalcd in bracket bearings on the with a similar bevel spur wheel 29 mounted freely on the aforementioned horizontal shaft 4. A clutch 30 is mounted on the said shaft 4, the driving portion of which clutch is rigidly attached to the said spur wheel 29,

and the driven portion of which is slidably mounted on theshaft 4 over a feather-key, the jaw faces of the two portions of the said clutch being kept together during the lifting process by a helical spring 31. Thejaw faces a forked clutch lever 32 conveniently fulcrumed on the adjacent gate post 1A, the

movement of the said lever being controlled by the pull of-a tension cable 33 attached to the end of the lever 32 opposite to the clutch. The said cable 33 passes down below the foungdation 16 and is bifurcated in opposite directions passing over pulleys 34 to distant operation contacts 35 and 36 shown in plan View and explained in detail later. A. springcable'tightener 37 is fitted to the top of the gate post-1Aco-operating with the clutch spring 31; Alever 38 forms astraightline projection of the stop lever 23 and alsoforms part ofthe dog 22, being similarly fulcrumed on the foundation 16. The operation of this lever is controlled "by a depression link 39, which link is depressed automatically by the passing vehicle by meansof the operation contact 40. In order to operate two gates.

simultaneously the link 39 is bridged across below the operation contact 40. The lever 38is returned to normal by the compression spring 40A attachedto'the foundation 16.

In explanation of the successive operations of this device it may be stated that a train or vehicle travelling in the direction shown by the arrow on the closing contact device 35 depresses a. c ontactjspring 41 as shown in Fig. 4, andlowers aplunger 42 rigidly attached thereto." The said l plunger has tension ad-' justment holes 43 at its lower hooked end, for attachment to the tension cable 33, said cable passing over two grooved guide pulleys'44 and thence over one of the pulleys 34 to ofp erate.theclutclrlever eater disconnection of the clutch 30, thereby allowing the gate to required since the post 42 Learner;

descend by its own weight. The rack 20 will rotate the pinion wheel 19 and the shaft 13 to wind the spring 12. v When the spring 12 .is fully wound the pawl 18 looks the ratchet teeth and holds the free running disc 15 against the stop-dog 22 until such'time as the downward pressureisapplied to the link 39 when the vehicle passes over the opening contact device 40. At thismoment the dog 22 becomes disengaged from the disc stop 21 and the spring 12 unwinds and rotates the disc 15 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3, spur wheels 25, 26, 28 and 29 rotate, and

contact-rollers will be necessary on the train 2:

or vehicle to complete the raising and lowering of the gate. I Springs 45 attached to the gate posts 1 and 1A or to the rails 11 act as a stop for the height limit of the gatewhen open. a i

The semicircular spring 41 in the contact tripping devices 35-and 36 is' anchored at one end 41A and free at the other end 4113 'in order that the tongued end 4113 may slide freely when the vehicle is passing as shown forth-e contact 35,, and viceversa when pass ing as shown for contact 36, both ends of the said spring 41 are, however, free to slide in the release contact device 40. These contact devices consist of circular a-ngle-iron frames 48 with oneleg of the angle-iron turned in- .wards'to protect the spring 41againstthe weather, circular cheek plates-49 on either side of thedeviceand holding down plates 50 and bolts 51. a Contact 40 differs from (2011- tacts 35 and 36 illustratedin Figs. 4, 5 and 6, in that th'e'spring 41 is not anchored at either end, and that it terminates in a sliding tongue at each end, also that the pulleys 44are not the bridge or lever 39.

It is to be understood that whereas one gate only is shown in the illustration, two gates are in operation at the same time, one

7 on each side of the track, also that under certain circumstances one gate onlymay be conveniently employed as on'highways.--

Ahousing 46- is shown by' broken lines to enclose all the moving partsat the head of the gate, and'another housing 47 issh'own to enclose all themotive parts operating the presses directly on gate. Under certain conditions it may "be necessary to substitut'e'reduction gearing in place of the single spur wheel 19 meshing di 1 rectly' with the "rack 20f i What I claim as invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an automatically controlled slidable gate of the type described, a spiral spring driving motor, a ratchet and pawlcheck for winding the said spring incombination with 1 a stop disc and independent stop-dogvto hold the spring, a stop pin and independent stop lever to hold the "said stop disc while 'winding, a toothed spur Wheel meshing with a rack attached to the slidable gate for winding the said spring when the said gate is closing by reason of its own weight, a release lever to throw out the said stop-dog from holding the said stop disc, a lever or a bridge to.

V operate the said release lever by a downward motion, a contact devicecomprising a spring depression member with a plunger post attached to automatically depress the said lever or bridge, and two pairs of meshed bevel gears for the transmission of the necessary power to raise the said gate, all as set forth.

2. In an automatically controlled slidable illSPQIlClQCl gate of the type described, gate posts, a suspension shaftand pulleys, a spring controlled clutch to permit the raising of the said gate, a system of tension, transmission cables controlling the said clutch, contact tripping devices to automatically pull the said cables for lowering the said gate, a spring motor automatically wound up by the falling A action of the said gate under its own weight,

a rack on the gate meshing with a spur wheel on the motor shaft to effect the'winding up of thesaid spring, a ratchet operating with the said spring, a stop disc running loose on a shaft supporting the motor mechanism, a pawl attached to the said disc and meshing with the said ratchet, stop-dogholding and releasing levers controlling the rotation of the said stop disc, a pin stop to check the turning of the said stop disc when the said spring isbeing wound up, an automatic contact spring depression device controlling the 7' 1' saidstop-dog,holding and releasing levers,

and bevel spur wheels for angular transmission of the motive power from the motor to the gate raising shaft, all substantially set f forth in the specification and drawings.

RUDOLF DAERINGQ V 

